Salaries for Mount Vernon pool help will potentially increase this year.
Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch said the pool will be hiring one assistant manager this year, responsible for managing the pool when manager Katy Forest is unable to be at the pool.
Salary ranges for lifeguards and other pool employees will be higher than the $8 per hour of the past, with many of them being in the $12 to $13 per hour range.
“That salary impact is going to have a trickle up effect, as we have other seasonal employees, like summer help who help with things like mowing or caring for gardens that we’ll need to pay a similar rate,” Nosbisch said.
The city will be able to absorb those additional salary costs without adding to the tax rate locally.
Nosbisch said there will be other recommendations from the personnel committee that will be addressed later this year, including some changes at the department head level towards the end of the year.
Council member Paul Tuerler said he would prefer cutting hours and making sure the pool is staffed appropriately than barely having enough to just keep the pool open.
Nosbisch said the pool’s hardest time to maintain staffing is the last two weeks of summer, when a majority of workers return to high school activities.